Classification

Domain- Eukarya
The major domain of Eukarya consists of all multicellular organisms. They have multiple organelles of which include mitochondria and chloroplasts. The woodrat falls under this domain because it is a multicellular organism and reproduces its cells through cellular division of mitosis and meiosis (Sidwell). To find out more about these two cellular division processes, visit here.

                 
Kingdom- Animalia
Animalia’s major determination is that an organism is heterotrophic, meaning they rely heavily on organisms for their source of food. The opposite of this would be autotrophs, who produce their own foods, such as sugars, through processes like photosynthesis. Animalia are also multicellular. This group contains a variety of animals, from sponges, to invertebrates, to humans. Here are a few webpages on different animals of the Damselfly, the Yeti Crab, or the Chicken!

Phylum- Chordata
Chordates posses a bilateral symmetry and post anal tail, which both appear on this dusky-footed wood rat. Bilateral symmetry implies being symmetrical on both sides of the body.
                                                

Class- Mammalia
A distinction of the mammals would be their fur or hair as well as their mammary glands. The word “mammalia” is literally translated as “teat” or “nipple,” thus implying their ability to reproduce and produce milk for their long. The woodrat, as you will learn on the Form and Function page, has brown fur as well as mammary glands used for their young after reproduction.

Order- Rodentia
In English, the term “roden,” which Rodentia derives from, literally means gnawing. This is especially suiting for the wood rat because they gnaw on sticks to make their homes, as seen in the picture here. Other rodentia include squirrels, beavers, mice, and woodchucks.

Family- Cricetidae
Animals in this family are typically small in size, such as a hamster. One characteristic that varies in this group is their tail size (dependent on their bodies) and whether or not their tail is covered in fur. A similar trait of all these small rodents is their brown fur coat and white underbelly. Patterns may vary between specific resources.

Genus- Neotoma
As mentioned on our home page, Neotoma literally means “packrat.” This clearly fits our organism perfectly because its nickname is the packrat!

Species- Neotoma fuscipes
Finally, the woodrat is classified as this species! It is small, bilaterally symmetric, and in a cellar aspect, goes through mitosis and meiosis.  

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Gabriella Tuminello and Emma Conway of the University of Wisconsin - La Crosse. Bio 203 - Spring 2014